I saw several threads talking about gaming on imac. I have a question, why using a computer to play games rather than using a more professional gaming machine, e.g. Wii, xbox and PS3?

Our game consoles are hooked up to the old plasma TV in the basement. If I am doing some school work and want to take a break for a quick bit of gaming, I don't want to walk down from the 2nd floor to the cold basement. I also don't want to reboot to Windows. I just want to play a bit on my iMac, then get back to work.

For me, I've found that some games are "lean back" games (shooters, single player RPGs) while others are "lean forward" games (MMOs, RTS). So I play "lean back" games on the Xbox and "lean forward" games on the iMac.

The iMac is many times faster than any of the consoles you have mentioned and can display more details at higher frame rates.

The other answer to your question is: Why not.

I own an imac, the only game I play on it is the sims since I am really not a good game player.

A friend in my department works on NoC (network on chip, while one can see it as an enhanced version of SoC) who is working on a project of graph card optimization. Recently we talked a lot about the further computers and game machines. From hardware point of view, the hardware of a gaming machine, e.g. xbox, is extremely optimized for playing games, e.g. the bus, the graph card as well as the hardware optimization. The professional game machine also takes huge advantages on the parallel computing, which a mac or a pc can never do. This kind of hardware parallel coding (currently) can only be done in sole-function machine, e.g. xbox.

Yes, an iMac provides a lot more than a computer, it can also be a gaming machine, even the really good one. But it is still not the best one one can get.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by forty2j

It's all personal taste.

For me, I've found that some games are "lean back" games (shooters, single player RPGs) while others are "lean forward" games (MMOs, RTS). So I play "lean back" games on the Xbox and "lean forward" games on the iMac.

A friend in my department works on NoC (network on chip, while one can see it as an enhanced version of SoC) who is working on a project of graph card optimization. Recently we talked a lot about the further computers and game machines. From hardware point of view, the hardware of a gaming machine, e.g. xbox, is extremely optimized for playing games. The bus, the graph card as well as the in hardware optimization. The professional game machine also takes huge advantages on the parallel computer, which a mac or a pc can never do. This kind of hardware parallel coding (currently) can only be done in sole-function machine, e.g. xbox.

True, consoles give you much more opportunities for optimisation. But the crucial point is: even if your code can 100% utilise the capabilities of a hardware, a 50% slower code on a 5x faster machine will still be faster. And XBox GPU is generations behind the modern GPUs. The iMac can play modern demanding games on 1440p with a better quality than a console - while consoles will struggle at 720p.

BTW, as far as parallel coding goes, there are things like OpenCL, Cuda and the like...

True, consoles give you much more opportunities for optimisation. But the crucial point is: even if your code can 100% utilise the capabilities of a hardware, a 50% slower code on a 5x faster machine will still be faster. And XBox GPU is generations behind the modern GPUs. The iMac can play modern demanding games on 1440p with a better quality than a console - while consoles will struggle at 720p.

BTW, as far as parallel coding goes, there are things like OpenCL, Cuda and the like...

Well, you are right if we count numbers like this. I personally do not have an xbox, so maybe it is just not correct for me to compare. I had the sims from EA on my old imac, but I play more often on my iPad. The reason is just because it is more convenient.

Purely technically speaking, there are more and more search topics recently about the integrated CPU and GPU on sole-function machine, e.g. game machine. They use the technology NoC(network-on-a-chip). The operation units for CPU and GPU will be dynamically allocated. The early performance (I have no right to know the advanced performance) shows a huge enhancement with the benchmark and the cost of such device can also be draw down if it can be massive manufactured. Maybe that will be the further of a game console, maybe.

Yes, an iMac provides a lot more than a computer, it can also be a gaming machine, even the really good one. But it is still not the best one one can get.

Neither is a console. A game console is designed to provide a nice consistent game experience for around $300. It isn't designed to be 'the best one one can get'.

Especially with current gen consoles (360, PS3) that are several years old now. Many games that are released on both console and PC have clearly superior visuals on the PC version when run on higher end hardware.

Console versions of games are also sometimes updated less often. For example there was an expansion for Skyrim that has been out for a while on PC but has not yet been released for the PS3 version.

PCs also have more flexibility for controls. Many people who are serious about shooter games hate playing on consoles because the joysticks are much less precise than a mouse. People who are into things like flying games and simulators can also get much better peripherals for PCs.

Consoles are great for playing games in the living room, but they aren't the best gaming machine for everyone.

I don't understand why it has to be one or the other. I have a 360 and PS3, but would like to get games for my imace in the future. It's nice to see games maxed out to fully optimize the machine's settings.